126 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



In color, haunts, and habits, this species closely resembles 

 the preceding, the difference in size serving at all times to dis- 

 tinguish one from the other ; both are esteemed for the table, 

 and are therefore sought tor by the gunners and often exposed 

 for sale in the market. When one is wounded from a flock, the 

 others raise a great outcry and remain near it so long that their 

 ranks are often still farther thinned before they move off. Alone 

 or in company with the preceding this species pays a passing 

 visit to the shores of Hamilton Bay in spring and fall. 



Subgenus RHYACOPHILUS Kaup. 

 103. TOTANUS SOLITARIUS (Wils.). 256. 



Solitary Sandpiper. 



Bill perfectly straight, very slender, grooved little beyond its middle 

 Dark lustrous olive-brown, streaked on the head and neck, elsewhere finely 

 speckled with whitish ; jugulum and sides of neck with brownish suffusion 

 and dusky streaks ; rump and upper tail coverts like the back ; tail, axillars 

 and lining of wings beautifully barred with black and white ; quills entirely 

 blackish ; bill and feet very dark olive-green ; young duller above, less 

 speckled, jugulum merely suffused with grayish brown. Length, 8-9 ; wing, 

 5 ; tail 2^ ; bill, tarsus, and middle toe, each about i-ij ; tibiae bare §. 



Hab. North America, breeding throughout the temperate portions 

 (more commonly northward), and migrating southward as far as Brazil and 

 Peru. 



Information regarding the nest and eggs of this species is still much 

 desired. 



As its name implies, this is a solitary bird, nowhere abun- 

 dant, yet widely distributed. It is seen during the summer 

 months in Southern Ontario. Prof. Macoun reports it as " of 

 frequent occurrence on the plains" of the Northwest, and it has 

 been found in Alaska. 



In the List of Birds of Western Ontario, published in the 

 Canadian Sportsmen and Naturalist for November 1882, it is 

 stated that " in the summer of 1879 this bird bred very com- 

 monly along the streams in Middlesex, but, has since then been 

 quite rare. Most of those I have seen near Hamilton have got 

 up unexpectedly from some pool by the roadside, frequently from 



